hey ceme
i'm not gonna be a playa hata' just cuz i envy your budget! i am sure you ahve worked your butts off for it and you deserve to take an awesome trip with it!!!

as for usa hostels, i ahve worked in one for aeyar and stayed in about six. they are really nice and safe, that is, the hostelling international/american youth hostel ones. you are right abuot cheap motels though. they can be quite sketcy. you could rent a car for (and i amy be wrong about this) maximum of 1 month at a time and drive it from point a to point b. while greyhound is possible id say taht driving a car is gonna be the best way to see this coutnry most of which has been settled since the advent of the car. tis designed by cars for cars. pretty much.

try

couchsurfing.com
(or is it .net) if youa re feeling adventurous!

also you can finda chain of hotels like Motel Six which tends to be chaeap and you can join their membershiop club for free and save furtehr money.

keep asking away we enjoy giving tips
zopa

Stunning itinery and an orca sized budget to boot. You laready know that cash is king and 30k each will see you living like royalty.

GoNorth's advice about redirecting yourself through the more interesting of the Americas first off is exactly what I did, the time of year your setting off is screaming out for you to fly to BA, overland south through Patagonia, jump off to Antarctica and then head north through Chile all the way to Mexico. Not only will you be ideally at your fittest and up to the amazing trekking in South America but your Spanish that I take it your currently learning will be used and not forgotten + you will catch the best weather Patagonia has to offer and be able to start lightening your pack load of thermals early in your travels, (always good advice).

PM me if you want any more info.

quote:

Originally posted by Smuggler:
Cemesis,

Have you ever considered packing a rucksack and just following your nose, you're have much more fun if you wing more of your trip than planning it to the Nth degree.

Smuggs

In theory yes and of course that appeals but we are still saving (leaving in 2007 when my current job expires) and thus I'm looking at where we can go and what we can do.

I want the budget to stretch so essentially don't want to waste it (staying in hotels and flying when we don't have to). Last night I found out that theres a bus tour from Boston to Niagra Falls and you can stay overnight and leave the next day, for $99. I might never of found that if I'd just left and done no planning at all.

I understand the dangers of planning too much, I really do. I've read a few times in posts and recommendations from others that you shouldn't plan to much as things invariablly don't goto plan and it can take some of the fun out of it.

But I'd like to do as much as I can and some things cost loads even with good deals (Antarctica, the Inner Passage to Alaska, the train from Toronto to Vancouver through the rocky's). These can be so much more if you don't shop around first or go at the wrong time of year. I would of been so gutted if I'd gone through North and South America, made it right down to Ushuaia and found that because it was April they had closed the trips to Antarctica.

The Himalaya hikes have to be booked months in advance I think but when it comes to things like Australia I have nothing planned at all. Fly in, stay for 4 months or so. Fly out.

So I'm trying to plan things that I think need planning (or at least booking) and to leave things that I think don't.

Cemesis

Travel for me has always been such a rewarding experience, bordering on the spiritual even.

When I look back on every trip I've made the most enjoyable aspects and the most memorable moments have always involved the unexpected! People and places, that's what it's all about, spontaniety is the key here... After all that's the beauty of life, you never know what's around the next corner?

Either way I'm sure you'll have the time of your life and truth be told, I'm more than a little jealous

Incedently I spent March/April trekking in Nepal earlier this year and yes, I did wing the whole thing but if you have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer them, just PM me.

All the best
Smuggs

I wonder if you are going to spend 6+ months in North/South America if you would not be better served by buying a small Camper for the trip?

Might not be worth it, depending on where you want to spend your time.

Hotels and rental cars... or bus tickets and airline tickets... with hotels/hostels at the end?

I'm thinking that round each month down to 30 days, say a hundred dollars a day. 3 months is 9 thousand dollars. Fudge a little bit higher and a camper van isnt quite out of your reach. If you can work out selling it when your done in North/South America it sure would be nice to get some of your money back out.

i'm jealous. This is an amazing budget. If you keep daily life costs low and just spend the bulk on special activities/sights... i'm just jealous!

I'd love to be able to do that. Looking at hostles in various places and doing some rough sums it looks like its all going to work out for America and that was the place I was most concerned about as we are going to be there for months.

The way things have gone today at work, I am extreemly tempted to push the whole thing forward but we'll have to see

quote:

Originally posted by Rocknrod:
I wonder if you are going to spend 6+ months in North/South America if you would not be better served by buying a small Camper for the trip?

Buying a vehicle in the US becomes incredibly complicated if you don't live here. License, registration, and insurance blah blah... I know many places require that you live in a location in order to register the car, and you can't drive it without a registration. My sister had to change her drivers license to Tennessee (from MA) in order to register her car in TN, because she had to register her car in TN in order to insure it. Major hassle. Even if you were able to buy it somewhere else and avoid this, you still need to be insured while DRIVING in the US and with no billing address etc for this it would get complicated.

Good point Tracy.

Sounds like that plan would need more hashing out, or at least more hasish.

I don't know the full rules for a foreigner buying a car but when I did Camp America in Pennsylvania two different groups of non-americans got vans to travel in, one group was english the other Israeli. Don't know if they used the Camps address though.

If you are buying any flights in America you get different prices on expedia.com (you can only use this if your card is at a US address)and expedia.co.uk, basically us brits seem to be financially raped by those sods at expedia, (hope I don't get sued), I got my cousin who lives in LA to get me an e-ticket San Fran to Buffallo for $100 ish while on the .co.uk site it was £90, just a slight difference

I was also going to suggest some different destinations within the US. I'm from Chicago so I'm biased but Houston? If I was forced to go to Texas I would probably go to Austin before Houstin, and definately not Dallas. What do you plan to do in Salt Lake? There's not too much going on there and if you want some mountain scenery you might want to go somewhere else, maybe Colorado? What kind of photography are you into? If you like landscapes it would be a shame to not hit some of the National Parks--Grand Canyon, Teton, Yellowstone. You might need to rent a car to get to the parks but it might be worth it. You're also missing the Southwest totally, there's some amazing scenery there. Anyway, I'm sure you have your resons for the places on your list but I would suggest reevalutaing those cities.

You're jumping between Canada and the US a lot. That will add to plane costs because you're taking a lot more international flights. I actually flew to Seattle when I wanted to go to Vancouver and took a bus the rest of the way, it was a lot cheaper than an international plane ticket.

About South America... I can say that Peru is great. If you want to fly onward from Easter Island it'a a bit hard and will require backtracking because you can only fly to EI from Chile which is inbetween Argentina/Antarctica and Peru.

I'm hoping Salt Lake will be good for scenery shots. From what I've seen of it on photos it looks like the area its built on is quite flat, obviously with a big lake next to it.

We have decided to goto Vancouver from Toronto on the Rocky mountaineer and then from Vancourver to Alaska, then fly back to San Francisco, then to Salt Lake, Las Vegas and LA.

From LA its a decision on weather to drive back across to Miami (through Houston and Dallas and places like that) but looking up the cost yesterday I'm not sure its worth it and your suggestion that they arn't going to be that great just re-affirms my thoughts from yesterday which are to just fly on from LA.

We will be hiring a car in Las Vegas and driving to the Grand Canyon. Where is Colarado did you have in mind?

Hi Cemesis! I just read the posts that followed your original inquiry and I have a bit to add. Forgive me if I repeat anything, I was browsing and may have missed a bit. First of all, congratulations! This trip sounds amazing and I'm completely envious.

First of all...You mentioned about that bus (or was it train) from Boston to Niagra and back, etc and commented that you'd never have found that without some prior investigation. I think you'll find that you will learn A LOT more from other travelers while you're gone. I've been to S. America and I am currently in SE Asia and I knew almost nothing when I got here. Everyone has a bit of information to offer and everywhere you stay has info like that. How to cross borders, who can arrange packages like that, where the best places to see this, that or the other thing, etc. I know playing it by ear sounds scary and it can be when you have absolutely no idea where you want to go, but it can be incredibly refreshing and allows you to see things you wouldn't have even thought to look up while still at home.

Second, are you planning to visit cities mostly or do you want to get off that beaten path a little and discover other parts of these countries? While the city thing is totally fine, if you're interested in the other kind of travelling, I would definitely change places on your itinerary. Peru, for example, is an AMAZING country with heaps to see and lots to do, but Lima is an awful example. When I was there, it was all I could do to get out of there. If you like the comforts of cities, there are plenty of others in Peru (and every other country for that matter) that are much more authentic, for lack of a better word. As far as I'm concerned, most big cities around the globe are very similar and it's hard to even tell which country you're in until you leave them (the big cities that is).

Thirdly, I'm originally from Chicago and currently live (at least when I return from here) in Colorado and am very biased to both places. Chicago is a fantastic city from April until October and there's lots to see and do. I would recommend it over Houston and Salt Lake. If you're looking for good scenery, it's hard to beat Colorado or parts of Wyoming for that matter. Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is great and easily accessible as is southern Colorado (Crested Butte, Durango, Gunnison, etc). Jackson Hole, the Tetons and Yellowstone, all in Wyoming, are also fantastic! Arches National Park (in western Utha, close to the Colorado border)is one of the most amazing I have been to. As far as the Grand Canyon, it is by far the most amazing place I have ever been. I had the most amazing three weeks of my life there (rafting) so it may have been a different experience than visiting it from the rim, but it is stunning!

Finally, about your camera and safety, etc. In both S. America and SE Asia (from what I've seen so far at least) true hostels (like in Europe, Oz and NZ)are hard to come by and guesthouses or similar are much more available. Many have safe deposit boxes and/or a place for your own personal lock on the outside of the door. I personally like that part! These places seem far more secure than hostels and are still very cheap. My traveling partner and I are staying in guesthouses and have yet to spend more than $15 (at the nicest ones) for both of us. It was similar in S. America.

Alright, I'm done for now..I don't want to go on forever, but I wanted to add my piece. I think you with both have an AMAZING time however it works out, no matter how much planning goes into it. I look forward to keeping an eye on this post, because I think it is very interesting. I would be happy to answer questions about the places I've been (the States, S. America, SE Asia, Australia, NZ or Costa Rica) if I can. Good luck!

Daniela

mtnshine@gmail.com

I plan to visit cities and the not-so-visited places. The Rocky Mountain National Park sounds great and am I correct that its best done by car?

Lima was just a city I picked in Peru to indicate that we will goto Peru. When it comes to places in South America I expect us to spend very little time in the cities and more time exploring.

$15 a night is very cheap. Are guesthouses what we would call B&B's in the UK? How did you find them when you entered a village or city?

Hey again! I'm so glad to hear that the cities thing was more than just the places you wanted to go, but an indication of the countries you planned to visit.

As far as the guesthouses: We rely mostly on the Lonely Planet (or similar) and bootsnall recommendations. If you have a moment to look on this site before you arrive somewhere, it can be very helpful. You usually don't have to post at all either, you can just look at archived conversations and get good recommendations. Also, as you will find almost everywhere in the world (outside of the US and Europe I assume), when you get off the bus/train/boat there are always people from guesthouses trying to get you to stay there. They are always willing to take you to their place (for free) to show it to you and there are no hard feelings if you don't like and they will often times take you back to the bus stop or somewhere else if you want. Works pretty nicely although sometimes you just need a moment to get your bearings before they crowd you and they don't always give you that luxury. I would guess the gueshouses are simimlar to B&Bs in Europe. Small places with any number of rooms (usually between 5 and 20), a sitting area of some kind (garden, patio, rooftop), a small restaurant or similar and all the tour and travel info you could ever want. These people really have the business of backpacking down to a science and know what they're doing. My only recommendation for guesthouses is to be conscious of local holidays and high season as they can fill up without warning and prices may fluctuate.

Hope that helps! Happy planning!

Daniela